VINTAGE NOTES
2007 GSM
SANTA BARBARA CO.

VARIETALS       45%Grenache, 35%Syrah, 20%Mourvedre
APPELLATION  Santa Barbara County
VINEYARDS      Fess Parker, SB Highlands, Del Barba
HARVEST           Oct. 8 & Nov. 1, 2007
OAK AGING      14 months
T.A.                      5.4 g/L
PH                        3.52
ALCOHOL          14.2%
BOTTLING DATE January 20, 2009
PRODUCTION    551 cases

HARVEST

Santa Barbara County saw an unusually warm summer following a very dry spring with no rainfall after February. These climate conditions along with a light crop accelerated maturity. Harvest began earlier than normal and a heat wave in early September pushed grapes to ripeness. Small berry size and low cluster numbers along with the ideal summer growing conditions produced fruit of superb quality.

VINEYARD

There are three components to this Rhone-style wine and three different vineyards. Each vineyard is unique and thus each component reflects these terroirs. The Syrah comes from two of the Fess Parker Estate Vineyards in Santa Ynez Valley. Rodney Shull Vineyard is situated atop a mesa above the winery on Foxen Canyon Road. Grapes for our wine are the Shenandoah clone. Camp4 Vineyard is located in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley along Baseline Road. Grapes from this vineyard are the Syrah Noir clone. The Grenache comes from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard on the far east side of Santa Barbara County at the base of the Sierra Madre range at an elevation of 3200 feet. It is quite warm during the day but temperatures drop dramatically at night allowing for good color development in the Grenache. The Mourvedre comes form the Del Barba Vineyard in Oakley. The vines are over 100 years old, dry farmed and head trained. This produces some very intense fruit.

WINEMAKING
All grapes were hand harvested into half-ton bins and crushed into small temperature-controlled tanks. Following a two-day cold soak that promoted excellent extraction of color, aroma and flavor, the lots were inoculated with Assmanshausen yeast to initiate the primary fermentation. Additional extraction was achieved by gently pumping over the wine three times daily. After pressing, the wine was transferred to small French oak barrels where it aged for 14 months.

TASTING NOTES
This Rhone style blend has delicious ripe berry fruit- raspberry and blueberry- and notes of chocolate and subtle oak. A well integrated structure leads to a long, soft finish.